(Book 9 in the Stone Soldiers series)

Richard Murphy is a hard-boiled, octogenarian Hollywood detective who thinks he's seen it all--until he and his ghost partner witness a horrific murder committed by a galloping centaur. Now the elderly P.I. worries he'll be next on the killer's list. But unbeknownst to Murphy, one of his on-line friends is more than just a master chess player. He's a member of Detachment 1039, America's secret super soldier program tasked with combatting the supernatural. Murphy and his partner in crime-solving are soon visited by the Detachment, who enlist the semi-retired P.I. in tracking down a serial-killing centaur who's come to L.A. to reap the souls of the innocent and the wicked.


The Stone Soldiers are America's secret weapon against the forces of darkness. A small detachment of psychics, supernatural soldiers and men turned to living stone, they respond to threats conventional forces are not prepared to face. Battling myths, monsters and magic around the world, the men and women of Detachment 1039 stand ready to do whatever it takes to stop evil in its tracks.